Ragamuffins Hair celebrates 25 years of Organic Colour Systems.
Not many salons can say they’ve been using Organic Colour Systems since they opened their doors. But there are a select few who can.
Ragamuffins Hair in England’s beautiful county of Devon celebrated 25 years in business this November; and Organic Colour Systems is privileged to have been with them since day dot.
OCS Mag spoke to Ragamuffins’ Creative Director Nikki Farrant about her 25-year milestone and what she’s learnt along the way.
How does it feel to be celebrating your 25th year of Ragamuffins’ business?
I’m very proud of having the business for 25 years, through all the ups and downs. A salon celebrating 25 years is quite an achievement, I feel, but a salon that has only ever used one brand over that time is special.
Why Ragamuffins? What inspired the name?
I get asked this question a lot! The main reason is that I didn’t want anything with my name or ‘hair’ in it. When thinking of names, I wanted something a little quirky and only one word, that was memorable. It also had to be different as, being in a village, I knew it would be difficult to shed the ‘village salon’ image. So, with a ragamuffin being an urchin and a scruffy individual and the opposite of what we would achieve in the salon – it fitted.
You’ve used OCS since you opened and must have seen huge changes over the years. Why have you stuck with it for so long?
Because my passion as a hairdresser is about leaving the hair in the best possible condition and, to achieve that, I need the best possible product, which in turn makes my job that much easier. I can honestly say, having worked with this product since day one, that I can achieve anything I want (and the product has changed massively since then). For me, as a hairdresser and a business owner, OCS being a niche product makes Ragamuffins stand out from the other salons. I have only ever used OCS in the salon and I can hand on heart say I would never use anything else. Why would I want to? I quite often get told by my clients that I am their ‘hair doctor’ which is the biggest compliment anyone could give me.
I trained in a mainstream city salon and when I left, I wanted my hairdressing to make a difference. Ragamuffins and OCS has helped me to achieve that.
You met your husband through OCS. How has Rick’s* involvement in Ragamuffins helped your business grow and evolve? And how has it helped you as a hairdresser having his support?
Having Rick involved in the business has helped massively with both the financial and business side. As every hairdresser knows you would rather be doing hair than sat at a computer analysing. This has made a huge difference as far as letting me concentrate on what I love and enjoy. I don’t have to worry about that side of the business – which takes a lot of pressure off. Our point of difference is not only in hairdressing, it extends to the business side with many clients commenting on how much we offer for a small salon. It also helped Rick when he was involved in OCS, as the best way to understand how a salon works is to be involved. So, all in all, it is a good partnership.
*Rick Farrant was the Commercial Director at Herb UK for many years, and remains very much a part of our Herb family.
What you don’t know about OCS isn’t worth knowing and you’ve shared that knowledge a lot over the years – educating extensively for the brand and growing and developing your own salon team. What advice to you have for other salon owners educating their teams with OCS to help them get the best out of what it can offer?
I always tell my staff – remember three or four key factors regarding OCS, as this makes it easier to relay to the client. It does take time to get qualified stylists into a different frame of mind – but if they truly want to be a different type of hairdresser, it will come very naturally. I have learnt over many years of training my staff and other salons that this product is for hairdressers that care and want to stand out from the crowd. I always say that I’m not a better hairdresser than anyone else – far from it – but OCS makes me a better hairdresser.
What’s your best memory of your 25 years at Ragamuffins?
Gosh – there are so many. In some ways it has gone very quickly and in other ways it seems a lifetime ago. To be honest, mostly all my memories have been good – a lot of stress and some of the hardest years – but something that stands out is the number of countries that have come through my door to see OCS in practise. Also, for our 20-year anniversary, we raised enough money to create a day room for a local cancer charity. Having lost a number of clients and friends to cancer it was a fitting way to give back to the community. The plan was to go bigger and better for our 25th Anniversary but Covid has, unfortunately, meant all our concentration needs to be on the business.
What’s your most embarrassing cringe moment over the years?
Before we carried out a refurbishment in the salon, six years ago, we had a separate colour room. I had been busy in the main part of the salon and hadn’t taken any notice of my client entering. The first time I noticed her she was already sitting in the colour room gowned up. She proceeded to have a conversation with me about leopard print and I proceeded to tell her how much I didn’t like it. I took no notice of my staff waving their hands at me in the background but understood two hours later, when I took her gown off. She was covered in leopard print – shoes, bag, dress, the lot!
When you sit back and take a look at your business and what you’ve achieved, what are you most proud of?
The number of clients that are still with me that have been with us since we opened and truly believe what Ragamuffins is about. Also having a member of my team with me for almost 25 years. This is pretty rare in hairdressing and for her 20-year anniversary we gave her shares in the business and made her a director.
Would you do it again?
I love my work and have loved the last 25 years through all the ups and downs, but the last eighteen months have been especially difficult. Business has changed drastically since I opened and, if I knew then what I know now, I’m not sure I would. But I was naïve then and I have learnt a lot along the way. In saying that, I love being a hairdresser so maybe I would.
“Ragamuffins has played a pivotal role in testing, educating and shaping Organic Colour Systems over the years. Relationships like this are rare, and it’s easy to take them for granted. I hope Nikki knows how much we acknowledge and appreciate the impact she’s had on us.” – Herb UK Co-founder and Managing Director Raoul Perfitt.
Happy 25th birthday Ragamuffins! Here’s to a few more years yet.
